The Princess and the Ryokuryuu
by Elly3981
Summary: He would do anything for the princess... even if it meant going against his code of honor. Jae-Ha/Yona snippits


**Disclaimer: I do no own Akatsuki No Yona; I write this for your enjoyment only.**

 **A/N: This snippit takes place between chapters 118-120 of the manga which currently goes beyond the events of the anime. It may contain spoilers so do not read if you have not read the manga.**

 **The Princess and the Ryokuryuu**

 **1: Thirst**

"Do you see the girls anywhere, Zeno?" Jae-Ha asked as he soured through the skies above a great forest with the ouryuu upon his back. It was times like these he wished he had Shin-Ah's incredible vision for the seiryuu would have been easily able to spot anything and anyone no matter how great the distance. But unfortunately, Shin-Ah was needed to infiltrate Hotsuma's Fort with Hak and Kija to rescue Lili and Yona if they were there so Jae-Ha had to settle with the overly optimistic Zeno.

"No, nothing yet…" the ouryuu began before something caught his eye "Wait, I see something, let go of me, ryokuryuu!" he suddenly commanded.

"What? Are you crazy? Do you know how high up we are, Zeno?" Jae-Ha asked in annoyance, thinking it was another one of the ouryuu's practical jokes but looking over his shoulder, he saw that Zeno was dead serious.

"It's all right, ryokuryuu, just do it!"

Remembering that the ouryuu had an indestructible body that could survive anything, Jae-Ha obeyed and released him. After letting Zeno drop, the ryokuryuu shifted his weight so that he could follow but took care to let the tree tops break his fall for he would not be so fortunate if he hit the earth with such force.

As soon as he landed, he saw Zeno confronting a soldier who appeared to be holding a young woman hostage to keep the ouryuu, who was now almost completely covered in scales due to the injuries he sustained while falling, at bay.

"Stay back!" the soldier ordered, fear apparent in his eyes from the sight of the ouryuu's power. "If you move, this girl will…"

Before he could say another word, the soldier found himself flying through the air as he was viciously kicked away from his hostage by Jae-Ha's powerful dragon leg. Upon hitting his head against a nearby tree, he was knocked unconscious and would not be getting up again for some time.

"Phew that was close. Are you okay Miss…"

Turning, the ryokuryuu found himself face to face with the very person he was looking for.

"Jae-Ha?" Yona asked curiously as she stared at him, frantically rubbing at her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"Yona" he cried as he quickly ran to the young princess and took her in his arms. As soon as she realized that Jae-Ha wasn't an illusion, she bursts into tears.

"Thank God you're safe!" he cried. "Where's Lady Lili?"

"Lili's been caught trying to protect me! They took her away! I couldn't do anything and now she's going to be killed!" Yona wailed as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Shh…calm down, Yona. I'm here now and so is Zeno. We'll rescue her so don't you worry about a thing."

"It's you we have to take care of now" Zeno said gently, removing his headband, as he approached Yona to tie the wounded foot that she sustained while she and Lili were running from the soldiers after they escaped the fort where they were imprisoned.

"Please do not blame yourself, little miss, you did the best you could." Turning to Jae-Ha, Zeno nodded. "Take her and go. Zeno will run." The ryokuryuu did not need any further goading as he hoisted Yona onto his back and took to the air, leaving the ouryuu behind. In addition to an indestructible body, Zeno was also gifted with great speed and would have no trouble catching up to them on foot, of that, Jae-Ha had no doubt. And it was a good thing too, for there was no way he could carry both of them on his back.

As they soured through the air, Jae-Ha noticed that Yona was lighter than he remembered. Concerned, he said "Yona, if you're thirsty, we can stop someplace and get water for you…"

The princess weakly shook her head "No, let's keep going…" After a few more moments of silence, she continued "Your legs are great… if I had them… I could fly to the side of anyone who needed me…"

The ryokuryuu was startled by her words. As a handsome and charming young man, Jae-Ha was used to getting praised by women but they were always for superficial things like his fine looks and honeyed words. This was the first time he was ever praised for the one thing that was the bane of his existence, that made him an outcast in his home village like Shin-Ah, even if it was the same thing that granted him his powers- his dragon leg.

The ryokuryuu smiled sadly as he said "Do not fear, princess, I will be your legs… until you have no further need of me…"

"Mmm…" was her only reply.

After some time had passed, Jae-Ha noticed that Yona was oddly silent. Normally, she liked to keep talking in difficult situations to keep everyone's spirits up, even if she was only with one person, but he did not so much as hear a peep from her.

"Yona? Are you alright?" the ryokuryuu asked as he started to worry.

"I...feel so dizzy… and faint…" she answered weakly.

 _Shoot!_ Jae-Ha thought as he quickly remembered that the forts where Yona, Lili, and the other kidnapping victims from the festival at Tousui were taken gave them liquids laced with Nadai to get them addicted to the drug and knowing her, the princess likely refrained from drinking anything for days.

Looking down, the ryokuryuu spotted a stream in the forest and quickly landed as gently as he could to avoid injuring himself and his passenger.

As Jae-Ha gently laid Yona on the ground near the stream and quickly examined her, he found that she was severely dehydrated and would die if she did not get some water soon. As much as she wanted to rescue Lili as soon as possible, there was only so much he could do alone. The ryokuryuu knew he had no choice but to rely on Hak, Yun, and his fellow dragons to rescue Lili. Right now, the one person who needed him most and the only one he could help was Yona herself.

Thinking quickly, Jae-Ha, gently lifted Yona to a sitting position, holding her firmly by the shoulders with his right arm. Using his free hand, he scooped some water out of the stream and brought it to her lips.

"Here Yona, please drink…" he pleaded. In answer, the princess slowly opened her eyes and tried to obey but she was so weak from dehydration as well as exhaustion trying to evade capture by the soldiers that she could not even drink out of his hand on her own. If Yun was here, he would know exactly what to do but since the self-proclaimed pretty boy genius wasn't, the ryokuryuu could think of only one thing to do:

Bringing his cupped hand to his lips, Jae-Ha took the water into his mouth before tipping Yona's head back and placed it on hers, using his tongue to force the water past her lips and into her throat.

Yona gasped and her eyes flew wide open to stare at her rescuer. As soon as he saw the deep blush that stained her cheeks, Jae-Ha realized the foolishness of what he had just done, even if it was the only thing he could think of to save her life.

He had stolen her first kiss.

"Princess, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he began as he frantically tried to think of what to say. For the first time in his life, Jae-Ha found himself tongue-tied, ironic, considering that he always knew what to say to make women feel at ease before. A flirt and playboy he may be, but he was still an absolute gentleman and taking advantage of a vulnerable woman was completely against his honor. Zeno and Yun may understand but Hak would no doubt kill Jae-Ha with his bare hands if he ever found out about this. Even Kija and Shin-Ah might turn on him as well for they too, had a thing for the young princess. The ryokuryuu braced himself for the slap he expected to hit his cheek any second now.

But it never came. Instead, Yona raised her finger to his lips. "Shh... it's alright, don't apologize. Please give me a little more water..." Jae-Ha obeyed and scooped some more water out of the stream and placed it against her lips; this time, she was able to drink on her own. After Yona had enough, she smiled at him. "Thank you, for saving me, Jae-Ha." She said shyly as she looked into her rescuer's beautiful violet eyes. Unlike Hak's hard blue-eyed stare, they were soft, relaxed, and bedroomy.

 _Strange, why am I noticing this just now?_ she thought.

"Y…you're welcome." Trying to change the subject, he said "Let's go. We must rescue Lady Lili without haste."

"Yes, of course." Yona replied as she allowed Jae-Ha to help her stand and hoisted her onto his back. As they took to the air once more, the ryokuryuu spoke.

"Hey, Yona?"

"Yes?"

"Can you please do me a favor?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Please don't tell anyone about this."

"Yes… I promise" Yona said, blushing once more.

 **End…for now**

 **A/N: So what do you think? I just finished watching the Akatsuki no Yona anime and read the manga up to the latest chapter and this little snippit came to mind after I finished reading chapters 118-120. I ship Hak and Yona but I think Jae-Ha and Yona would make a cute couple as well so I started this fic to see where else it will take me. If I get at least a few positive reviews or more ideas for this pairing, I'll continue**


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